In the original arcade build of Pac-Man, there is a specific area on the board that can be used as a hiding spot where the ghosts cannot see you. To access it, enter the upward tunnel, located just to the right of where Pac-Man spawns in on the board, from the right underneath, and keep Pac-Man facing up (do not do this as your first move when the level immediately starts, move slightly before trying this, for instance looping around the small left pathway from where Pac-Man starts and then going to the hiding place). This exploit can be used the same way on every level in the game except for the Strawberry level (the second level of the game). The Strawberry level has a slightly different way of pulling it off that can only be done there, requiring you to enter the same tunnel, but entering it while traveling left towards Pac-Man's spawn spot instead of entering by going to the right.

The A.I. for the ghosts works in two different modes, Chase and Scatter. The ghosts start in Scatter and aim for their own corners of the board while ignoring Pac-Man. In Chase mode, they can see and will actively chase Pac-Man. The ghosts will alternate between scattering and chasing Pac-Man in set intervals, and after the fourth Scatter, they will chase Pac-Man until you die or win the level. Due to a programming oversight, the ghosts cannot travel up in the "T"'s above and below the ghost spawning area, forcing them to move right past you. The ghosts also have unique methods of targeting Pac-Man, and all of this info put together allows the hiding spot to be possible. However, there is one exception to this trick. When Blinky switches from the fourth Scatter back to Chase for the rest of the level, he will come down from the top-right corner of the screen, and it is possible for him to enter the tunnel from the right entrance and kill Pac-Man, making it crucial not to perform this trick right before the fourth Scatter switches back to Chase to avoid the risk of death.

This exploit was patched out of future ports of Pac-Man, although ports containing the original arcade build will still retain it.